Robots May Aid Aging Japanese Population
From: Associated Press - 10/04/2007
By: Hiroko Tabuchi

Care technology was on display at this week's home care and rehabilitation
convention in Tokyo. Secom showed off its My Spoon feeding robot, a spoon-
and fork-fitted swiveling arm that the elderly and disabled will be able to
maneuver using a joystick. The National Institute of Advanced Industrial
Science and Technology has developed a wheelchair that recognizes voice
commands such as "forward" and "back," and "right" and "left," and the
Kanagawa Institute of Technology has developed a full-body robotic suit that
nurses will be able to use when lifting patients in and out of their beds.
Analysts say care technology will become increasingly important to Japan in
the years to come as its population continues to age. About 22 percent of the
population has reached 65 years of age, and more elderly people are not being
cared for by their children and grandchildren in their golden years. "We want
to give the elderly control over their own lives," says Secom developer
Shigehisa Kobayashi. 

Read the entire article at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071004/ap_on_sc/japan_robot_helpers_5

Links:
My Spoon
http://www.secom.co.jp/english/myspoon/index.html

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
http://www.aist.go.jp/index_en.html

Aging Japan eyes cutting-edge technology
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/base/international-24/1191485424224080.xml&storylist=international&thispage=1

Kanagawa Institute of Technology
http://www.kait.jp/english/index.html

Kanagawa Institute of Technology Develops Robot Suit, Fuels Superhero Fantasies
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/robots/kanagawa-institute-of-technology-develops-robot-suit-fuels-superhero-fantasies-307998.php